Once again the August fishing trip was a great success. Not a lot of fish caught but great fun and fellowship at Loch Callium.
More pictures can be accessed from the Photo Archive page of the website.
RYLA AWARDS 2010
Attached is pic of the presentation of this year’s RYLA (Rotary Youth Leadership Awards) attendance certificates to Thurso High School pupils Rebecca Wymer (left) and Vicki-Jayne Smith (right). The certificates were presented by Snr Vice President Kevin Sutherland (ight) and Vocational Services Chairman Sandy Cumming.
Thurso Rotary Club sponsored Rebecca and Vicki-Jayne`s weeks attendance at the RYLA camp which was held in July at the Abernethy Trust, Nethy Bridge. The RYLA course is designed to help local young people develop their leadership skills, build self confidence and communication capabilities and assist the youngsters to realise their full potential within the community.
The Club has a new President
President for 2010 - 2011, Graeme Dunnett, receives his chain of office from Immediate Past President Alan Sparling watched by Assistant District Governor John Sutherland, new Vice-President Kevin Sutherland and the incoming Junior Vice-President Frank Bremner.
Millbank Play Area
The Rotary Club backed project to provide a children's play area at Millbank, Thurso is underway.
Mission Fair
The Club once again gave assistance at the Seamen's Mission Fair at Scrabster putting on games stalls for the young, and the not so young. President Allan surveys the scene while his minions do the hard work!
Guest Night 2010
The Club held its annual guest night in the town’s Pentland Hotel on 22 May. It was the last main function of the current Rotary year which ends next month. Sixty-six people attended the dinner where John Minhinick, District 1010 Thanks for Life co-ordinator, was guest speaker. A mini auction also raised £1500 for the club’s community charity account. Dancing followed the meal to Ian Sinclair and friends. Couples pictured (from left) are:
John Sutherland, Assistant Governor for North Highlands and Islands, and his wife Ishbel; Alan Sparling, President of Thurso Rotary Club, and his wife Lorna, President of Thurso Inner Wheel Club; John and Sheila Minhinick and Graeme Dunnett, Thurso Rotary Club’s Senior Vice-President and his wife Sophie.
Rotary in action!!!!!
Graeme Dunnett and Charles Findlay 'plodding round' in the Castle of Mey 10k. The race was held on a Sunday but there is no truth in the rumour that they had submitted apologies for the following Thursday's meeting.
Thanks for Life Presentation
Members of the Rotary Club of Thurso recently handed over a cheque for £6,125 raised through their polio eradication campaign. President Alan Sparling presented the cheque to the Rotary’s area assistant district governor, John Sutherland, at a weekly meeting held in the Pentland Hotel. The club more than doubled its target figure of £3000 and members are incredibly pleased with the support the campaign received locally. But senior vice-president Graeme Dunnett stressed that the polio campaign is not over yet. “The End Polio Now campaign is a two-year project worldwide, which will continue, until 2012,” he said. “The Thurso club will continue to raise money for polio eradication, but there will be a different slant on the fundraising, so no more purple beards.”
In addition to the cheque handover the Club was presented with the Per Capita Cup for giving the most money in the Highlands to Rotary’s own charity, Foundation.
The picture shows members with President Alan Sparling presenting the cheque to John Sutherland while Vice-president Graeme Dunnett holds the Per Capita Cup.
Millbank Play Area
The ceremonial cutting of the 'first turf' at the Millbank Play Area took place on Monday 10th May. The tuft was cut by children from each of the town's primary schools.
Doreen MacLeod (Thurso Town Improvements Association) and Past President James Campbell are shown with the children. Children left to right: Katie Chambers (Mount Pleasant), Rachel Fotheringham (Pennyland) and Ross MacGregor (Miller Academy).
The major work to completely refurbish the play area is a collaborative project support by Rotary Clubof Thurso and Thurso Town Improvements Association.
Gordon MacLachlan
Sadly our Honorary Member Gordon MacLachlan recently passed away after a short illness. Despite being in his 89th year Gordon was a very active Rotarian and a friend to many within and outwith the club. The Club expresses its deepest sympathy to Gordon's family and friends.
Speechmaking Competition
Thurso Rotary Club's Annual Speechmaking Competition for pupils of Thurso High School once again attracted a group of quality speakers and a large audience in North Highland College. In the high quality field Keana Jardine came out on top, in this 34th year of the competition, with her talk on Beauty Pageants.
Rotary President Alan Sparling presents Keana with the winner's shield while other competitors and Vocational Services Chairman Sandy Cumming look on.
In the picture left to right: Alan Sparling, Keana Jardine, Luke Greenford, Kelly Tadd, Ailsa Cameron, Katie Punler, Charlotte Gordon, Jessica Hopewell and Sandy Cumming.
THANKS FOR LIFE - AN AMAZING SUM RAISED!
The Thurso Rotary Thanks for Life project involving Bearded Rotarians, School Visits and collections throughout the town has already raised over £6000 and still some more money to count!
Below are the six Thurso Goatee Beardies. More pictures futher down the news column and in the Photoarchive section.
Left to Right: Robert Sinclair, Graeme Dunnett, Colin Chessor, Alan Sparling, Kevin Sutherland, Sandy Sutherland.
Thurso Area Primary School Quiz
In a very closely fought contest Miller Academy came out on top after a Tie Break round in the 2010 Primary School Quiz held in Reay Hall and hosted by Reay School. Appropriately the Quiz was held in Thanks for Life Week and on the actual date of Rotary's 105th birthday, 23rd February 2010.
'Thanks for Life'
Club members have been travelling to Schools in the Thurso area to give the Polio Thanks for Life Presentation and collecting money while Painting Pinkies Purple. Club President Alan Sparling is shown, complete with Purple Goatee, with the pupils of Miller Academy after the presentation.
and at Castletown the Pupil Council organised a Purple Pinkie Day
Some brave souls from Thurso Rotary Club are having their beards, some specially grown, dyed pink in the aid of the Rotary 'Thanks for Life' Polio Fundraising campaign. The pictures below show some of the participants at North Highland College Hairdressing and Beauty Section having their beards attended to and one of the participants, Bob Sinclair, showing lovely pink facial hair!
More pics in the Archive Section of the website.
Thurso Rotary Club Burns Supper 2010
Once again Thurso Rotary Club came up trumps with a great Burns Supper in the Pentland Hotel.
The picture shows the participants who entertained their audience of over 80 with song, verse, stories and not a little fun and laughter.
Back Row Left to Right: Alan Plowman, Raymond Bremner, Bryan Dods, Craig Omand, Gus Mackay and Donald Cameron.
Front Row: Fiona MacIntosh and Alan Sparling.
Christmas Dinner
The Thurso Rotary Club Christmas Dinner was held in the Pentland Hotel on Thursday 17th December. A large turnout of over 80, including Rotarians, Guests and members of the Thurso High School Interact Club, enjoyed a fine meal some seasonal entertainment and an informative and amusing talk by speaker for the evening, Stewart Smith.
At the event Club President Alan Sparling, with some difficulty as the pictures show, presented Interact President Sarah Swanson with Chain of Office.
More pictures of the event can be accessed through the Photo Archive Page.
The Gavel Round Two
On Remembrance Sunday the quiet East Sutherland Countryside was invaded by not one but two Caithness Battalions representing the Rotary Clubs of Thurso and Wick. The Rotary Club of East Sutherland had hoped to recruit the support of the Dingwall club but they must have fallen in battle or have been shot down in transit as they failed to turn up for a superb afternoon of fellowship during which the Northern Gavel Championship divisional Final was played.
The result was immaterial although somewhere it is recorded that Wick and East Sutherland drew their match and Thurso having earlier beaten Wick trounced the brave souls of East Sutherland with every team being awarded a victory against Dingwall who forfeited their matches by not fielding a team.
These matches were played on a perfect autumn Sunday in the excellent facility offered by Brora Golf Club and the East Sutherland Club looks forward to welcoming members from all of these and other clubs to the 21st Charter Dinner on 6th March 2010.
The picture shows the skilled competitors who played games of Jenga, Draughts, Dominos, Connect 4, Putting and Pitching. Further pictures can be accessed from the website Archive Page.
The Gavel Competition First Round
On Saturday 10 October the Club starts its 2009-210 campaign to win the Gavel Sports Trophy. The team are set and psyched up for their match with local rivals Wick at the Nethercliffe Hotel in Wick. Sports Officer Frank Bremner is quiety confident of success and looks forward to taking the team across the Ord for the next round of the competition.
The new Thurso 'Mall Walk Bridge' is open:
Councillor John Rosie and Miller Academy pupils Katie Moar and James Rollinson perform the opening cermony at the new bridge over the River Thurso replacing the one washed away by floods. Various groups and the local councillors were instrumental in pushing for a replacement bridge and amongst those groups Thurso Rotary Club played a very prominent part.
A Post Conference Message from President Alan Sparling
I thought it would be good to let you know about the District Conference which has just finished.
I was accompanied to this year’s conference by my wife Lorna, Graeme and Sophie Dunnett, Kevin and Jean Sutherland, Roger and Barbara Saxon and Donald and Maureen Sinclair and I thank all of them most sincerely for their support.This was the 59th overall conference and 4th in a row at Aviemore.
The conference is organised by the District Governor’s Rotary Club, in this instance, RC of Dundee.The conference programme is designed to appeal to a wide range of tastes and interests but provides plenty of time for relaxing, making new friends and catching up with old ones.Addresses were provided by some magnificent speakers including Howard Caskie from the RC of Limavady, Co. Londonderry (Polio Plus), Sir David Lane (Cancer Care), Nigel Hawkins (John Muir Trust), Mike Dickinson (Help for Heroes) and Professor Sue Black who gave a fascinating final presentation on Forensic Anthropology.All these speakers took us through a range of emotions and kept us well informed as each spoke from their heart.
Group Study Exchange is a four week exchange visit similar to the Friendship Exchange we have been involved with, but with Rotary Clubs sponsoring young professionals in their area to travel to another Rotary District and learn about their way of life particularly sharing and learning vocational ideas.There were two excellent reports given, one from the District 1010 team which had gone out to Pennsylvania and one from the visiting team from District 5510 Arizona.
Not forgetting the fellowship side, we had a dinner on the Friday and Saturday evenings; Friday we were sitting with Rotarians from other clubs whilst on Saturday we sat as a club and had a superb evening dining, wining and dancing the night away…but no sore heads the next morning (only a bit fuzzy). The entertainment on the Friday was perhaps the ‘low’ point of the weekend but the band on Saturday certainly made up for it.
And, we won an award!! – the Per Capita Cup (for Rotary year 2008-9).This cup is awarded to the club who donates the highest amount per member to Foundation and in our case, equivalent to $184.It was certainly a surprise to see we were getting an award and I was very proud to receive it on your behalf.Well done everyone.
Next year, the ‘Diamond’ conference is being held in the Eden Court Theatre in Inverness from 22 to 24 October and the District Governor will be George Berstan. If you have yet to attend a conference or have not attended one for many years, may I encourage you to ‘give a go’ for this one.Hopefully you will find it a truly memorable occasion as I’m sure all our previous attendees will testify.
L - R: Sophie Dunnett, Lorna Sparling, Roger Saxon, Barbara Saxon, Graeme Dunnett, Kevin Sutherland, Jean Sutherland, Alan Sparling.
Rotary Fishing 2009
Fourteen hardy fishers braved a stormy day and dreadful under foot conditions to take part in the Club's annual fishing trip to Loch Callium. Despite the strong wind, rough and high water levels and the difficulty of getting Land Rovers back off the hill the day was enjoyed by all the participants.
The Hook-Hoskins Tankard for the biggest fish caught was won by Lesley Crawford while the Rotary Endeavour Cup for the best contribution to the day went to President Alan Sparling.
ROTARY YOUTH LEADERSHIP AWARDS 2009
The Club's sponsored RYLA students, Lynsey Harper and Liam Gray, receive their certificates from President Alan Sparling and Vocational Service Chairman Sandy Cumming.
Thurso Rotary President 2009-2010
Past President James Simpson (centre) welcomes new President Alan Sparling to the Rotary Chair for the 2009-2010 year watched by new Vice-President Grame Dunnett, 1010 Area 1 representative John Sutherland and the new Junior Vice-President Kevin Sutherland.
Millbank Playpark
Rotary Club of Thurso plans to completely refurbish the children's play area at Millbank were presented to members at their regular Thursday meeting. The exciting project costing in excess of £100,000, will be facilitated by the club with members using their expertise in various fields to ensure funding is available and plans progress in accordance with the feasability study and the outline project plan.
The programme of work will be outlined on the website in the Special Projects Section and progress report here in the news section and on Porjects Page.
Seamen's Mission Scrabster Fair
One of the most popular events in the Thurso area calendar is the Scrabster Fair. As always, Thurso Rotary Club and Inner Wheel helped at the Fair with their Games Activities and Baking Stalls and other general backup for various jobs on the day.
Picture shows Rotarian Teresa Smith flanked by Vice-President Alan Sparling and Preseident James Simpson. There are more pictures in the archive section.
Thurso Rotary Club Guest Night Dinner
Over 80 Rotarians and Friends sat down to dinner in the Pentland Hotel on on 16 May and enjoyed an excellent meal and were entertained by a suberb speaker. Dr Peter Hughes, Chief Executive Scottish Engineering, enthralled the audience with a speech full of humour and with a message about the successes and hopes of Scottish business. Added to this Peter showed his versatility as from time to time he lauched into music and song while providing his own musical backing.
Pictures of the event can be accessed through the web's Photo Archive Page and by 'clicking' the appropriate link.
Rotary Golf at Reay
Brad Smith was best Rotarian in the Thurso Rotary Club Open Golf held at Reay Golf Club on Sunday 3rd May.
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL COMMUNITY - JOIN THE 250 CLUB
Considerable amounts of money are raised for local good causes by Thurso Rotary Club's Community Fund through the 250 Club. For further details see the 250 Club webpage which is a subpage under this Club News page.
Charity Auction
Skinandi's, Thurso is to be the venue for another of the Club's popular Charity auction sales. Previous sales have raised four figure sums for local and international charities and it is hoped that MacMillan Cancer Support and Rotary Foundation can get significant financial support as the result of this venture.
The date set for the Auction is 13th March and club members expect that the evening of the 13th will not be an unlucky date for the chosen recipients of their efforts.
Club members will be actively seeking items to auction and any generous businesses or members of the public willing to assist with the donation of sellable items should contactthe club through the feedback page of the website.
And, of course, we would like to see a good public turnout. Not only will there be great items on sale but it should be a fun evening too with enjoyable musical entertainment.
Rotary Burns Supper 2009
The Club's Burns Supper was held on 15 January in the Pentland Hotel, Thurso. A company of 80 Rotarians and guests enjoyed and excellent evening's entertainment celebrating the 250th Anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns. To mark this special occasion the speakers each received a special certificate from Vice-President Alan Sparling and all those present were gifted a miniature bottle of whisky.
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